


Under the Saffronia Tree (Frosted Glass)

by ohmygoshwhatascream



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I’m back again, Pure Love, SO MUCH FLUFF, but I’ll fix them if I catch them, indulgent af, just love guys, probably riddled with mistakes, two in one day guys, what more could you ask for?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-20 15:22:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19994422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmygoshwhatascream/pseuds/ohmygoshwhatascream
Summary: Ready for some more spelling mistakes guys bc boy am I ready





	Under the Saffronia Tree (Frosted Glass)

**Author's Note:**

> Ready for some more spelling mistakes guys bc boy am I ready

The view is breathtaking. She’s never seen anything like it.

From this angle, high on cliffs that tower over the rest of the world, she can see everything. Crimson petals, shades of vibrant orange and fuchsia, sprinkle the ground like rubies beneath her feet. She leans heavily against the solid bark of the saffronia tree, knees feeling shaky and weak as she gazes out over the vast expanse of Uraya.

Fonsa Myma seems so small from this distance. So tiny and little, like pieces from a dolls house all stacked up haphazardly above the glistening water.

She’s always known that Uraya is a gorgeous place. The nation was renowned for its beauty after all; its rain that sparkles like diamonds in the hazed sky and its petals that fall and spin in vivid whirlwinds sent from the heavens. It was certainly a far sight prettier than the dry and scorching landscape of Mor Ardain or the fogged and abandoned ruins laying forgotten in Genbu’s snow drifts.

Uraya burns with colour. A mishmash of yellows and greens and purples and blues, all so vibrant and bright against the grey cliff faces and darkened sky. But Uraya’s true beauty is realised once the sun fades and shadows rise. At night, the city of Fonsa Myma glows a spectrum of colours, light melting into shades of frosted glass that twinkle like stars in the growing gloom.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Zeke says softly from beside her. His hand is intertwined with her own, large and warm and scarred and so familiar. Looking down at her through gentle eyes, he offers her a broad grin that that seems to split his face like a ray of sunlight. “Yeah.” She whispers in reply. “Yeah. It is.”

There’s a short pause, a lingering moment of silence over them as they gaze out onto the kingdom of Uraya. However, such quiet holds no feelings of awkwardness. Instead, it comes as calming, something soothing and tranquil after a long and difficult day.

It’s nice, Pandoria thinks, to have such calming downtime. While she’s always up to irritate Nia with some new synchronised posing or she’s trying to convince Zeke that the title ‘Chaotic Bringer of Chaos’ isn’t really all that great while simultaneously trying to avoid inflicting him with a mortal blow of honesty, (like Pyra had accidentally done just a few weeks ago) moments like these come as something so different to their usual hectic lives, but such things are by no means unwelcome.

He draws ever so closer to her, the distance between them so small that she swears she can hear the rhythmic thud of his heartbeat.

“Well, Pandy,” He clears his throat, squeezing her hand briefly before letting go. “I actually brought you here to tell you something.” He offers her a broad grin before stepping back, holding his arms out wide open. “Do you know what this is?” He questions, not without a dramatic flourish of his hands, pointing them skyward.

She looks above, following the direction of his outstretched fingers and raises an unimpressed brow. “Uh, _yeah_. I think I know what a _tree_ is, my prince.” He flaps his hands up and down, expression growing exasperate. “No, Pandy. What _kind_ of tree is it?” He punctuates each word individually, as though it’s important and she’s supposed to hurry up and realise something already.

“A saffronia tree?” She answers hesitantly, unsure on whether this is the answer he’s looking for. It must have been right though, because he gives her a smile brighter than the stars and looks at her expectantly.

She stares back.

He starts pointing at the tree again, then spreading his arms about some more. She frowns at him, lips pursed as she tries to figure out _what the hell he’s doing._

“Pandy! It’s not just any old saffronia tree, it’s _the_ saffronia tree.”

“Uh... _what_?”

He groans, throwing his head backwards as he crumples to the floor. “Pandy!” He shouts, fist raised to the heavens as heaves out a disappointed sigh. “How could you forget?”

She pauses, head cocked as she stops to think. Flicking her mind back to the past few days, she tries to think about something that might make her realise _what_ _in all of Alrest was going on._

Saffronia trees... no, a _specific_ saffronia tree. _Oh_. Oh wait.

“Oh.” She chokes out, face instantly aflame. “Oh...” she repeats, blinking wildly behind her glasses as she looks up at Zeke.

He’s giving her that goofy grin of his, the one that definitely doesn’t make her stomach do backflips and her lightbulbs flutter erratically. No. Definitely not. She is the definition of unbothered. She definitely didn’t plan out this exact scenario in her head after last week when they’d visited here with Kora. No way.

(Well, maybe she totally did. But that’s beside the point. She’s definitely not flustered right now. She’s cool, chill, calm. _Yeah_.)

She wonders if this is karma for trying to set up Pyra and Rex. She’d always found it funny how the two of them seemed to instantaneously combust whenever anyone suggested anything about their totally not ridiculously obvious crushes on each other. Maybe this was her comeuppance, her matchmaking schemes were her ultimate hubris and this was just a bitter taste of her own medicine.

Maybe she’s been spending too much time with Tora. He’d been educating her on the many fine points of something he proudly dubbed ‘ _blushy crushy_ ’. She hadn’t really understood what he’d been blathering on about at the time.

But, _Architect_ , does she know now.

“Uh... Pandy? Are you alright?” She’s snapped out of her stupor by large hands waving in front of her face, Zeke peering down at her through the haze of saffronia petals. “Y-yeah, my prince. You better be doing what I think you’re doing! You got my hopes up last time!”

She’s still kind of annoyed at that. She wasn’t really expecting him to give a grand confession in front of so many people - regardless of how flamboyant they are, they do like some things to be somewhat private - but she’d definitely hoped that he was going to do _something_. “Well, uh, yeah.” He eloquently replies, rocking back ever so slightly on the balls of his feet - a clear sign that he’s more nervous than he’s willing to let on.

“Uh, I’m sorry about that Pandy. I was going to go through with it, you know, get my feelings out right there and then, but-“

“You’ve not planned a speech have you?” The look on his face tells her everything she needs to know.

“You did, didn’t you?” It’s her turn to grin now and she pokes a gloved finger into his chest. “You’ve totally thought about this!” She laughs, trying to ignore the fact that her face is certainly bright red right now because _oh wow he’s actually planned and thought about this._

“Of course I did! The Zekenator is the master of romance! You’re not ready for my melodious words that will no doubt set your heart aflame with love and adoration for your most brilliant driver!” She hates that she totally loves that because _oh Architect, he’s a dork but so’s she so maybe it really is just fate or something weird and stupid like that._

“Well, I’m listening! If this confession of yours doesn’t make me swoon into your open arms, then is it really a confession?” Standing up straight, she looks expectantly at him, folding her arms as she waits for true love to sweep her off her feet.

“You’re putting a lot of pressure on me now. We’re basically already married so do I _really_ need to go all out?” He dithers. She wonders if she’s suddenly gone deaf, or if her head has just decided to make up words because _what is happening right now?_

“You... you’re backing out of a dramatic confession? My prince! We’ve trained for this day! What was the point in acting all ‘blushy crushy’ in front of Mórag and practicing our sweet moves in front of Nia if we’re not actually going to do it!” For a blind moment, Pandoria wonders _why_ they’re like this. They both know where the others’ true feelings lie, they’ve just... never said it out loud. They just tried to make themselves appear as embarrassing and lovey-dovey as possible just to watch Mythra try to refrain herself from pulling some crazy strong artifice on them. Yet they’re still waiting to vocalise their obvious feelings for one another. It’s strange, she wonders why they haven’t done something like this sooner.

“Yes, Pandy, I know. But you know I can’t work like this! Thunderbolt Zeke’s charm is a natural phenomenon. I can’t just turn it on! It’s a part of my _soul_.”

She giggles, slapping him gently on the chest before stepping closer to him. Instinctively, he wraps his arms tight around her, his grip strong and hot against her skin.

“But maybe we don’t need a grand confession.” He whispers into her hair, demeanour changing into something much more vulnerable and tender. “Maybe this is enough.”

She hums in agreement, burrowing her face into the crook of his neck. Inhaling deeply, she just enjoys the sensations around her. The cool breeze, ice cold pinpricks on her bare arms. The delicate touch of glowing petals fluttering into her unruly hair. The sound of Zeke’s heartbeat, strong and steady against the palm of her hand.

“Yeah. I like the sound of that.” She eventually mumbles, taking pride in the way he stiffens as her lips ever so slightly brush past his bare skin.

“I love you.” He says, words soft and gentle yet steadfast against her. She smiles against him, feeling so much happiness glow deep within her body, the warmth around her something she never wants to end.

“I love you so much, Pandy. Maybe this isn’t the way I planned to say this, but I just want you to know. I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much, but you proved me wrong.” Her breath catches in her throat at his words and she feels her knees grow weak. His words mirror her own thoughts, the feelings he had just spoken of exactly the same as her own.

“I love you too, my prince.”

She can’t help but think of what Kora had said; how if you confessed your love under this saffronia tree it’d last forever.

But, really, she doesn’t think they need a tree to grant them good luck.

She thought love like this only existed amongst storybooks and fairytales, but she knows, here in Zeke’s arms, that love like this is eternal.

**Author's Note:**

> Fuck I’m trash and this is bad bc I rushed the ending


End file.
